The Crystal-theme can be said to be the overarching theme of the series, as a traditional Final Fantasy plot involves an antagonistic force trying to make use of the Crystals' power with the player power in opposition, sometimes chosen to wield the Crystal's power to enact their will as the Warriors of Light. Some games subvert this theme, such as Final Fantasy XII—where the Crystals are called nethicite—and the Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy series with its various types of Crystal, showing that the power of the Crystals is not necessarily something that mankind should pursue despite its might.
The PlayStation console saw the release of three main Final Fantasy games. Final Fantasy VII (1997) moved away from the two-dimensional (2D) graphics used in the first six games to three-dimensional (3D) computer graphics; the game features polygonal characters on pre-rendered backgrounds. It also introduced a more modern setting, a style that was carried over to the next game.[3] It was also the second in the series to be released in Europe, with the first being Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. Final Fantasy VIII was published in 1999, and was the first to consistently use realistically proportioned characters and feature a vocal piece as its theme music.[3][13] Final Fantasy IX, released in 2000, returned to the series' roots by revisiting a more traditional Final Fantasy setting rather than the more modern worlds of VII and VIII.[3][14]
Battle – Multiple human players use racing items to battle each other in a closed arena. Each player starts with three balloons and loses a balloon with every hit sustained; the last player possessing at least one balloon wins. Different battle types were added as the series progressed, as well as single-player battles. Starting with Mario Kart Wii, there is a time limit for each battle. For Mario Kart 8, the battles take place on race courses. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe reintroduces arena-style tracks.

In Sonic Lost World, a DLC stage based on The Legend of Zelda series was released in March 2014, named "The Legend of Zelda Zone". While built around the core gameplay mechanics of Sonic Lost World, "The Legend of Zelda Zone" incorporates some elements from the Zelda series, including a heart-based vitality meter, rupee collection, and a miniature dungeon to explore.[116]

The chronology of the Legend of Zelda series was a subject of much debate among fans until an official timeline was released within the Hyrule Historia collector's book, which was first released in Japan in December 2011.[31][32] Prior to its release, producers confirmed the existence of a confidential document, which connected all the games.[33][34] Certain materials and developer statements once partially established an official timeline of the released installments. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is a direct sequel to the original The Legend of Zelda, and takes place several years later.[35][36] The third game, A Link to the Past, is a prequel to the first two games,[37][38][39] and is directly followed by Link's Awakening.[40][41] Ocarina of Time is a prequel that takes the story many centuries back; according to character designer Satoru Takizawa, it was meant to implicitly tell the story of the Imprisoning War from the manual of A Link to the Past, with Majora's Mask directly following its ending.[42][43] Skyward Sword is then a prequel to Ocarina of Time.[44] Twilight Princess is set more than 100 years after Ocarina of Time.[45][46]

Since the release of its first title in 1987, the FINAL FANTASY series has become a global phenomenon due to its cutting edge graphics technology, unique and distinctive world settings, and rich storylines. It has since sold over 142,000,000 copies (package/downloads). With 87 titles, the series was awarded the "most prolific role-playing game series" by the Guinness World Records in 2017.

The games in the series have sold a combined total of over 100 million copies worldwide,[13][14] with Mario Kart Wii as the best-selling entry, at 36.83 million.[15] Nintendo assigned the Player's Choice marking label to all four of those Mario Kart games that were in existence during its time, and its successor label, Nintendo Selects, was given to Mario Kart Wii in Europe and Oceania.

Princess Zelda is the princess of Hyrule and the guardian of the Triforce of Wisdom. Her name is present in many of her female ancestors and descendants. While most games require Link to save Zelda from Ganon, she sometimes plays a supporting role in battle, using magical powers and weapons such as Light Arrows to aid Link. With the exception of the CD-i games (which were not official Nintendo games), she was not playable in the main series until Spirit Tracks, where she becomes a spirit and can possess a Phantom Knight that can be controlled by the player. Zelda appears under various other aliases and alter egos, including Sheik (in Ocarina of Time) and Tetra (in The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass). In Skyward Sword, it is revealed that the Zelda of that game is a reincarnation of the goddess Hylia, whose power flows through the royal bloodline. The name "Zelda" derives from the American novelist Zelda Fitzgerald.[55]

Starting with Final Fantasy VIII, the series adopted a more photo-realistic look.[121][122] Like Final Fantasy VII, full motion video (FMV) sequences would have video playing in the background, with the polygonal characters composited on top. Final Fantasy IX returned to the more stylized design of earlier games in the series, although it still maintained, and in many cases slightly upgraded, most of the graphical techniques used in the previous two games.[122] Final Fantasy X was released on the PlayStation 2, and used the more powerful hardware to render graphics in real-time instead of using pre-rendered material to obtain a more dynamic look; the game features full 3D environments, rather than have 3D character models move about pre-rendered backgrounds. It is also the first Final Fantasy game to introduce voice acting, occurring throughout the majority of the game, even with many minor characters.[19] This aspect added a whole new dimension of depth to the character's reactions, emotions, and development.[19][123]
Arcade Machine Mario Kart Arcade GP was the first Mario Kart title for arcades, released in 2005. Designed for Nintendo's Triforce arcade board and developed by Namco, the game features 11 playable characters and 24 tracks. As in other arcade racing games, players are required to drive to the goal under a limited amount of time. The machine also features many more items than the Nintendo titles, and houses a camera that will take a photograph of the player's face to display above the player-character during multiplayer races. This is the first Mario Kart game where characters originating from outside the Mario franchise and its sub-series are playable, as three characters from the Pac-Man games, namely Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, and the ghost Blinky, are playable.

But even after getting chocobos, there's the extremely irritating issue of literal miles of invisible walls along roadways for no discernable reason I can see other than to make it difficult to get anywhere with any degree of ease. It wouldn't even be quite so irritating if it was a consistent rule, but it isn't! Some rails you can jump off of, some you can't, and there is no way to tell the difference until you try. It might make sense if it was a drop that would probably kill you if you lept off, but usually it's just some grass on the other side, infuriatingly out of reach over a very low jump unless you take the looooong way around. And, again, some of these rails go on for miles. How fun do you think it is to run your chocobo for miles and miles, searching for some obtuse way out? What a stupid decision.

Princess Zelda appears in this game solely as Tetra, her alter ego in The Wind Waker. She does not regain her royal persona, although quite often when she appears, “Zelda's Lullaby” plays in the background, and she is called "Zelda" by some of the pirates during the game's intro,[123] much to Tetra's chagrin.[124] Her role is somewhat limited in the game as she is kidnapped early on in the story, and when Link finds her at last she has been turned to stone.[125]

In 1994, near the end of the Famicom's lifespan, the original Famicom game was re-released in cartridge format.[60] A modified version, BS Zelda no Densetsu, was released for the Super Famicom's satellite-based expansion, Satellaview, on August 6, 1995, in Japan. A second Satellaview game, BS Zelda no Densetsu MAP2 was released for the Satellaview on December 30, 1995. Both games featured rearranged dungeons, an altered overworld, and new voice-acted plot-lines.[61]

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In the portable entries, the series also performed outstanding sales. Mario Kart: Super Circuit, has sold a total of 5.9 million copies, making it the fourth best-selling game on the Game Boy Advance.[14] The second portable game, Mario Kart DS, has sold a total of 23.60 million copies.[15] The third best-selling game for the Nintendo DS, it is also the best-selling portable game in the series.[15] Mario Kart 7, released for the Nintendo 3DS, has sold 17.21 million copies, and is the best-selling 3DS game as of June 2018.[17]

At that moment, the Ritos Quill and Prince Komali fly through the open windows, grab Link and Tetra, and fly off. Link then takes Tetra to ancient Hyrule beneath the Great Sea, where the King, Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, reveals that she is the last descendant of the Royal Family. She then receives the other half of the Triforce of Wisdom, revealing her true identity as Princess Zelda. She hides in Hyrule while Link embarks on another mission. Once Link completes this mission, Zelda is kidnapped by Ganondorf, who takes her to his tower. Link storms the castle, defeats Puppet Ganon, and faces off against Ganondorf in a final battle. Zelda aids Link during the battle by shooting Light Arrows at their foe. After defeating Ganondorf, Link and Zelda, once again in the form of Tetra, return to the Great Sea and embark on a new adventure together, searching for a land to call their own.

Down special Default Leaf Shield 2% (circling), 3.8% (thrown) Mega Man summons leaf-shaped units that electromagnetically orbit around him. The leaves block projectiles, and can be fired forwards by pressing an attack button to land multiple hits, or used to deal additional damage to a grabbed enemy. The move is based on Wood Man's weapon from Mega Man 2.

At the 2006 Game Developers Conference, a trailer for Phantom Hourglass for the Nintendo DS was shown. It revealed traditional top-down Zelda gameplay optimised for the DS' features, with a cel-shaded 3d graphical style similar to The Wind Waker. At E3 2006, Nintendo confirmed the game's status as a direct sequel to The Wind Waker,[86] and released an extensive playable demo, including a multiplayer mode with "capture the flag" elements. Phantom Hourglass was released on June 23, 2007, in Japan, October 1, 2007, in North America and October 19, 2007, in Europe.

The Legend of Zelda series has received outstanding levels of acclaim from critics and the public. Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, Skyward Sword, and Breath of the Wild have each received a perfect 40/40 score (10/10 by four reviewers) by Japanese Famitsu magazine,[175][176] making Zelda one of the few series with multiple perfect scores. Ocarina of Time was even listed by Guinness World Records as the highest-rated video game in history, citing its Metacritic score of 99 out of 100.[177] Computer and Video Games awarded The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess a score of 10/10.[178][179] A Link to the Past has won Gold Award from Electronic Gaming Monthly. In Nintendo Power's Top 200 countdown in 2004, Ocarina of Time took first place, and seven other Zelda games placed in the top 40.[180] Twilight Princess was named Game of the Year by X-Play, GameTrailers, 1UP, Electronic Gaming Monthly, Spacey Awards, Game Informer, GameSpy, Nintendo Power, IGN, and many other websites. The editors of review aggregator websites GameRankings, IGN and Metacritic have all given Ocarina of Time their highest aggregate scores.[181] Game Informer has awarded The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, A Link Between Worlds and Breath of the Wild with scores of 10/10. Phantom Hourglass was named DS Game of the Year by IGN and GameSpy.[182][183] Airing December 10, 2011, Spike TV's annual Video Game Awards gave the series the first ever "Hall of Fame Award", which Miyamoto accepted in person.[184] Ocarina of Time and its use of melodic themes to identify different game regions has been called a reverse of Richard Wagner's use of leitmotifs to identify characters and themes.[185] Ocarina of Time was so well received that sales increased for real ocarinas.[186] IGN praised the music of Majora's Mask for its brilliance despite its heavy use of MIDI. It has been ranked the seventh-greatest game by Electronic Gaming Monthly, whereas Ocarina of Time was ranked eighth.[187][188] The series won GameFAQs Best Series Ever competition.[189]

Square had been developing simple RPGs, pseudo-3D games and racing games, although they failed to compete with the market, and did not perform well commercially. Series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi and his team grew pessimistic at the failures as the company faced bankruptcy, so he began to develop the RPG Final Fantasy as a personal final project to leave a legacy; if the game had sold poorly, he would have quit the industry to return to university.[3]
Unlike in earlier installments, Zelda does not bear the title of princess. She resides in Skyloft, where she attends the same boarding school as Link and rides a blue Loftwing. A childhood friend of Link and the object of affection of Link's rival Groose, Zelda has been confirmed to be Link's love interest throughout the game. Zelda is very cheerful around Link and rather nervous when alone with him, even bashfully asking him to fly around the sky together, like a date. Link also reciprocates these feelings. Toward the beginning of the game, she is swept off of her Loftwing by a tornado that Ghirahim created. Before she is captured, however, Zelda is snatched up by Impa and undergoes a journey to be purified in the springs of the Skyview Temple and the Earth Temple. Zelda is eventually brought to the Temple of Time where she manages to give the Goddess's Harp to Link before she and Impa enter a Gate of Time to evade Ghirahim.
The success of Final Fantasy and its key role within Square Enix's business plan has served as a double-edged sword. The first movie in the franchise, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, was a box office flop with a net loss of $72-102 million,[87] and delayed the merger between Square and Enix.[88] On the other hand, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn was primarily responsible for overturning the company's financial losses at the end of 2013.[89]
In several games, Zelda has a nursemaid named Impa, a faithful servant who is heavily hinted to be largely responsible for raising her and cultivating her abilities. In The Legend of Zelda, Impa is her most trusted servant, the one whom she entrusts with the task of finding a hero to defeat Ganon. In The Adventure of Link, it is Impa who brings Link to the North Castle and recounts the story of the ancient curse on the sleeping Zelda.
Another common theme is rebellion. The protagonists are often forced to fight a higher power either on a quest for revenge, for freedom or another motivation. The higher power can range from an empire, such as the Gestahlian Empire from Final Fantasy VI, a religion, such as Yevon from Final Fantasy X, or a deity, such as the fal'Cie from Final Fantasy XIII. During the journey to vanquish these powers their threat escalates, until the protagonists free the world of the oppressor(s).
Nintendo's 2011 timeline announcement subsequently posits that following Ocarina of Time, the timeline splits into three alternate routes: in one, Link fails to defeat Ganon, leading into the Imprisoning War and A Link to the Past, Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages, Link's Awakening, The Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link. In the second and third, Link is successful, leading to a timeline split between his childhood (when Zelda sends him back in time so he can use the wisdom he has gained to warn the Zelda in the past of the horrifying fate of Hyrule) and adulthood (where the Zelda from the future lives on to try and rebuild the kingdom). His childhood continues with Majora's Mask, followed by Twilight Princess and Four Swords Adventures. The timeline from his adult life continues into Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks.
What he means by this is that Zelda's mother couldn't teach how to access the power to seal Gannon away. As Zelda grew older, she became the gossip mongers favorite subject. Behind her back, they whispered how she was heir to the throne of nothing and how she was a failure. She grew frustrated when Link became her guard, and she expressed that feeling by shouting at him.
Early on in the timeline of the series, the original Zelda, while born as a Hylian, is the mortal incarnation of the Goddess Hylia.[18] Carrying on this divine blood, her female descendants are often named after her and are always the crown princess of Hyrule throughout its history.[3][19][20][21][22] Several princesses within the bloodline are also the possessor of the Triforce of Wisdom, imbued with the essence of the Goddess Nayru.[3][23][24] The essence of Nayru affords each Zelda divine wisdom, allowing them to discern the wisest decisions, especially in situations concerning the welfare of Hyrule. It grants them a myriad of mystical abilities, including the ability to heal others, though there is a possibility that this could also be an effect of their bloodline passing down Hylia's own powers and, later, the Light Force. Each incarnation of Zelda uses their powers to keep evil in check.

Arcade Machine Mario Kart Arcade GP DX is the third Mario Kart game for arcades, released in 2013. It adds Mario Kart 7's gliders[3] and submersible karts, plus new playable characters to the arcade installments, Bowser Jr., Rosalina, Metal Mario, Baby Mario, Baby Peach, Daisy, and King Boo, the latter six being characters added through game updates (while King Boo could only be obtained through a limited-time event). Additionally, Don-chan crosses over from the Taiko no Tatsujin series, and Pac-Man is redesigned to use his appearance from the animated television show Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures. Two new modes are introduced as well: "Alter-Ego," which uses online functionality to allow players to race against ghosts set by other players; and "Team," which allows two players to face against two computer-controlled opponents, and combine their karts to form a more powerful vehicle.

As usual, Mega Man destroys the latest incarnation of the Wily Machine, leaving Wily on the ground begging for forgiveness. As Mega Man berates Wily for trying the same old ruse after so many failures, he is taken over by the Evil Energy in Wily's machine as the tower collapsed around them. However, Duo saved Mega Man and destroyed the evil energy within him. He leaves before Mega Man wakes up, but Proto Man informs him of Duo's final message to the Blue Bomber: "Thank you".

Whether racing around an obstacle-filled track or battling in an arena, drifting and tossing items are the keys to Mario Kart success. Players can shake the Wii Remote while launching off a ramp to pull off a trick that will temporarily boost their speed. When riding a bike, players can gain additional speed by flicking the Wii Remote up and popping a wheelie
Following the Japanese launch of F-Zero, a Super Nintendo Entertainment System game which was exclusively single-player, Nintendo developers decided to create a two-player racing game for that console as a follow-up.[1] They made a prototype that featured a generic "guy in overalls"; it was decided that Mario characters and concepts be included when the developers added Mario driving one of the karts, out of curiosity as to how the game would look, and were satisfied with it.[1] Thus, the Mario Kart series was born, with its first title, Super Mario Kart, released for the SNES on August 27, 1992. Development of the first Mario Kart game was overseen by Shigeru Miyamoto, then the general manager of Nintendo's EAD division, who is best known for creating the Mario franchise and other successful Nintendo properties. Darran Jones of Imagine Publishing's magazine NowGamer attributed the original success of Mario Kart to its use of the Mario characters and to being a new type of racing game.[2]
When you get into the harder levels in the Grand Prix it will be completely normal to be hit with two or three things in a row. For example say you're a few seconds ahead, they will hit you with a pow, red shell, and a lightning bolt in a row to keep you stopped for several seconds. The suspicious part is how did the AI time firing the red shell so it would catch up just after you got hit with the pow?

Zelda appears as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee (the 2001 sequel to Super Smash Bros), in her adult incarnation from Ocarina of Time. She debuted first as Sheik, and it was later revealed that this was one of the character's two forms. Zelda is one of the most diverse characters in the entire game as she is actually two characters in one, each with its own unique moves, attacks, and fighting style. At any time during play, she can change form to take advantage of the full range of her abilities. This unique gameplay mechanic made her one of the most anticipated characters during the game's pre-release hype.

On to the good, I really love the art style of this game which feels like a cartoon come to life, something which they were moving closer to on 8 and then backtracked from on 9 and 10. The design of everything is just spot on and I really love the creativity on display as well as the fact that this feels like it has an actual story (something the X games aimed for but the core series usually lacked). The controls are smooth and responsive as they should be in any good Mega Man game and this helps to offset the difficulty of some levels (as does the store which has a lot of helpful items to allow the game to be as hard or easy as you choose to make it).

I feel its nice because based on the upgrades you buy you can make the game as hard or mind numbingly easy as you want. Which I don't really think is a bad thing at all. Making a game accessible to new players is done by doing just that. Making it accessible to a range of skills of platforming not adding a battle royal to Mega Man just cause that's what the kids are doing at the moment. (Man... Still sounding old and grumpy...)

Not much is known about Zelda's family; they are rarely mentioned or seen in-game. The king and the prince who were related to Zelda in The Adventure of Link are never even named—their actions merely provide an explanation for Zelda and the Triforce's conditions. It does seem though, that the King deeply trusted his daughter, as hinted in the prologue. It is also stated that Zelda's brother, despite his actions, did care for his sister and was devastated when he realized what his actions caused to her. The next time any known interaction between Zelda and a member of her family is mentioned is in Ocarina of Time; where the King of Hyrule (who is also Zelda's father) appears as an unseen character. The only thing that is even hinted about their relationship in that game though, is that the King did not seem to take all of his daughter's words seriously, which caused his downfall in the Adult Timeline and Fallen Hero Timeline.
However, the series has garnered some criticism. IGN has commented that the menu system used by the games is a major detractor for many and is a "significant reason why they haven't touched the series."[23] The site has also heavily criticized the use of random encounters in the series' battle systems.[167][168] IGN further stated the various attempts to bring the series into film and animation have either been unsuccessful, unremarkable, or did not live up to the standards of the games.[11] In 2007, Edge criticized the series for a number of related games that include the phrase "Final Fantasy" in their titles, which are considered inferior to previous games. It also commented that with the departure of Hironobu Sakaguchi, the series might be in danger of growing stale.[46]
In The Wind Waker, Tetra (as Princess Zelda) briefly wields the Master Sword that had been dropped by Link, making her one of the few people besides Link to be shown wielding the Blade of Evil's Bane. Her ability to wield it proves that Tetra (despite being a pirate) possesses a heart untainted by evil, as it has often been stated that evil beings are incapable of touching and or wielding it. However as she wields it only briefly before returning it to Link, it is unknown if Tetra could wield it as effectively as the various incarnations of the Hero. Being a pirate, Tetra is implied to possess some sword fighting skills and carries a short dagger-like blade, which she is shown wielding in promotional artwork. In the spin-off Hyrule Warriors series, she wields cutlasses (along with magically infused pistols) and is even capable of performing the Spin Attack.
Spirit Tracks features several moments that can be interpreted romantically. Early in the game during the Graduation Ceremony, Zelda walks into the room in front of Link, who is bowing down respectfully. Link then looks up and gasps, blushing at her in amazement. He is then scolded by Chancellor Cole for raising his head without permission. Later, when Zelda's spirit is separated from her body following the first encounter with Chancellor Cole and Byrne, Link is the only one who can see her besides the Lokomos, demonstrating a clear and strong bond between himself and the Princess. After Zelda and Link defeat Byrne in the Tower of Spirits, Byrne, disbelieving, comments that he was beaten by two mortals. Zelda, while still possessing a Phantom, says that when she and Link combine their strength, no one can defeat them. Link turns to her, surprised. The background turns white and Zelda's Lullaby plays as they both laugh and high-five, gazing at each other all the while.

The celebrated Mega Man X series comes to Nintendo Switch! Play as Mega Man X -the powerful evolution of classic fighting robot Mega Man -as he battles a variety of deadly bosses known as Mavericks in eight exhilarating action-platformer games. Mega Man X Legacy Collection includes the legendary 16-bit titles and the series' exciting foray into 32-bits: Mega Man X, Mega Man X2, Mega Man X3, and Mega Man X4. The heroic robot grows stronger as he takes down Mavericks and steals their weapons, and also has the ability to dash and wall jump for thrilling, fast-paced combat. Mega Man X's mysterious friend, Zero, also joins the fray as a playable character later in this collection.

The Legend of Zelda was principally inspired by Shigeru Miyamoto's "explorations" as a young boy in the hillsides, forests, and caves surrounding his childhood home in Sonobe, Japan where he ventured into forests with secluded lakes, caves, and rural villages. According to Miyamoto, one of his most memorable experiences was the discovery of a cave entrance in the middle of the woods. After some hesitation, he apprehensively entered the cave, and explored its depths with the aid of a lantern. Miyamoto has referred to the creation of the Zelda games as an attempt to bring to life a "miniature garden" for players to play with in each game of the series.[11]
After Link finds a second Gate of Time and goes to the past, he meets up with Zelda there. It is then revealed that Zelda is the reincarnation of Hylia. She also confesses to manipulating Link's feelings for her (as Hylia) so that he could fulfill his destiny, a deed for which she is very remorseful. In order to maintain Demise's imprisonment, Zelda seals herself. While doing so, Zelda asks Link for him to wake her up when his mission is complete.